Titans hit road for 1st time with trip to Atlanta

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Right guard Chance Warmack is excited about the Tennessee Titans' first road trip this season, even with a long bus ride for just a scrimmage against the Falcons.

The second-year lineman said Sunday that he has never scrimmaged against another team. Another plus is that he's from the Atlanta area, so plenty of family will be on hand Monday at the Falcons' headquarters for a joint practice.

"Just excited to play somebody different," Warmack said. "You don't know their tendencies, you don't know what they're going to do as far as the moves they're going to make. You have to go out for your technique and your rules. It's going to be a good challenge."

Coach Ken Whisenhunt and Atlanta coach Mike Smith scheduled this session about four months ago. Whisenhunt said the scrimmage helps break up training camp before their preseason opener Saturday against Green Bay. Their first preseason game on the road is Aug. 15 at New Orleans.

This trip will be made by bus. The Titans loaded up late Sunday afternoon and hit the road for the approximately 4-hour trip to Atlanta. The teams practice for two hours Monday afternoon, then the Titans load back up for the long ride home.

"It's going to be tough," Whisenhunt said. "Well, it's going to be tough later in the season. Hopefully we'll be in a big game that we've got to go on the road and win. These are the kind of things that lay the foundation for that."

With this being a practice, the Titans haven't studied the Falcons. Defensive lineman Jurrell Casey wasn't sure if he'd face Atlanta rookie Jake Matthews. Whisenhunt wants to see how his Titans respond.

"It really comes down to playing your scheme, playing your technique and seeing if you can execute or win," Whisenhunt said. "We're doing that."

The Titans practiced Sunday, though Whisenhunt gave a handful of veterans like receiver Nate Washington and safety Bernard Pollard the day off. After practice, they showered and grabbed dinner before boarding the buses. Casey said he planned to sleep as much as possible on the trip to make up for the long days and late nights of camp.

The Falcons are being filmed for HBO's "Hard Knocks," something Warmack had forgotten.

"You know they're going to be coming hard," Warmack said. "The cameras are going to be out there. We talked about it a little bit. But as a team, we're going to focus on ourselves as a team and stay positive and have class out there."

The Titans have had three small skirmishes in camp so far. Whisenhunt doesn't fine players for fights in practice, but he also doesn't want them being out of control in Atlanta. He said they've talked about that and he'll repeat himself before the joint practice.

"We're a team that not a lot of people are talking about or knowing about," Whisenhunt said. "We'd rather have people talk about us from respect and not some dumb fight."